Dynamics of localization phenomena for hard-core bosons in optical lattices

Abstract

We investigate the behavior of ultracold bosons in optical lattices with a disorder potential generated via a secondary species frozen in random configurations. The statistics of disorder is associated with the physical state in which the secondary species is prepared. The resulting random potential, albeit displaying algebraic correlations, is found to lead to localization of all single-particle states. We then investigate the real-time dynamics of localization for a hardcore gas of mobile bosons which are brought into sudden interaction with the random potential. Regardless of their initial state and for any disorder strength, the mobile particles are found to reach a steady state characterized by exponentially decaying off-diagonal correlations and by the absence of quasicondensation; when the mobile particles are initially confined in a tight trap and then released in the disorder potential, their expansion is stopped and the steady state is exponentially localized in real space, clearly revealing Anderson localization.